100 Moods AKA The Debacle at Wayfarer Station
by Igorina
Summary: It all started with a Wanted poster, a near-fatal misunderstanding and an inconvenient outbreak of Gammorean Flu... A series of Hondo/Aurra drabbles based on the 100 Moods prompt table.
1. Prelude to Disaster

**Disclaimer:** The Star Wars Universe is the property of George Lucas. No money is being made from this work of fanfiction.

**A/N:** I was going through old entries on my LJ a couple of weeks ago and came across the table of prompts for the 100 Moods challenge; the aim of which is write 100 drabbles or ficlets based upon the one-hundred emotions/moods listed on the table. I never got round to completing it for the fandom that I originally signed up for (Good Omens), but as I'm on a bit of a Hondo/Aurra kick at the moment I thought that it would be fun to write some double-drabbles for the pairing based on the prompts. The drabbles here follow on sequentially from one another, and so should probably be viewed more as individual scenes than independent ficlets. So far I've got four prompts written and will add more as and when I write them. Though I really don't know how I'm going to go about responding to prompts such as 'ditzy', 'chipper' and 'giddy', they just don't seem to fit these two at all (well, unless one of them decides to, say, experiment with deathsticks past their use-by date at some point).

I've also used a few of the OCs I created for Ten Days and Counting here (because I do enjoy tormenting them so), so this drabble series can perhaps be considered a prequel of sorts.

**o0O0o**

**Poster of a Girl (Prompt: 033 Enamoured)**

As an experienced man of the galaxy Hondo Ohnaka did not believe in such ridiculous sentiments as Love at First Sight.

Infatuation on the other hand was an entirely difference matter.

The wanted poster caught his eye as soon as he stepped into the spaceport's main square. They were not, of course, an uncommon on sight Algrith. This one however stood apart from the rest; featuring, as it did, the image of a pale, lithe and heavily armed humanoid woman with a topknot of auburn hair. She looked young, just a few years into adulthood, but there was no sign of naivety or inexperience there: just a tantalising and dangerous glamour that drew the eye.

He was so taken with the image that it took him a while to notice the words beneath.

_Wanted Dead: 5,000 Credit Reward._

Hondo's companion, the grizzled Ingot Cadinn gave a friendly leer. "See something you like, Boss?"

He chuckled. "Five-thousand credits, Cadinn. Who would capture a woman like that and then kill her for five-thousand credits?"

"Someone who likes his head to stay connected to his body, I'd imagine."

"Ah Cadinn, there's no romance in your soul."

"No, but I've still got my head."

**o0O0o**

**Fast Ships and Dangerous Women (Prompt: 002 Amused)**

Jango Fett had been acquainted with Hondo Ohnaka long enough to know that the pirate possessed three overriding passions: loot, fast ships and dangerous women.

The first two of these Jango could very much empathise with.

The third? Well, that was where tastes diverged.

Courage, determination, single-mindedness and a certain ruthless streak were traits both men admired in a female. Hondo's list however seemed to also contain psychopathy, kleptomania, pyromania, nymphomania and general instability. From the Twi'Lek mercenary to the Zeltron explosives technical, the women upon whom the pirate's amorous intentions settled were always **_T_**rouble (with a capitalised, underlined, bolded and italicised **_T_**).

This time though Jango almost had to laugh. The face on the wanted poster currently taking pride of place on the wall of Hondo's quarters was one with which he was all too familiar.

"Striking, isn't she?" said Hondo.

He shook his head in amusement. "Do you actually have any idea who she is?"

"No idea, they didn't add a name. But I always think of her as my beautiful _Wanted: Five-thousand Credits_."

Jango once again suppressed the urge to laugh. "A word of advice. If you ever meet Aurra, tell her that it was fifty-five thousand."

**o0O0o**

**Quarantine (010 Bored: Prompt)**

Wayfarer Station was not the worst spaceport in the Outer Rim to be stranded on. It was however still mind-numbingly boring.

So mind-numbingly boring, in fact, that a being could hardly be blamed for plotting the agonising demise of the idiots who'd decided that an outbreak of Gammorean Flu was cause to put the station under quarantine.

This, at least, was the opinion of one Aurra Sing: assassin, bounty hunter and general psycho for hire(1), who had already been prevented from pursuing two very lucrative bounties by the whole thing.

"Surprised you're still hanging around here, Miss Sing," said the proprietor of the _Coruscant Skyline _as he poured her drink. "I'd have thought you'd have been on your way by now, quarantine or not."

"I've got business here," she lied, unwilling to admit that she wasn't wholly confident in her ability to dodge and blast her way through the blockade.

"With a Weequay, by any chance?"

"What?" She looked at him sharply.

"It's just that Ohnaka's been asking my sister about you."

"Ohnaka?" The name was familiar.

"That pirate from Florrum."

Her lips pursed. So, some two-bit pirate was asking questions about her. Maybe boredom could be put on hold.

-0-

(1) Though potential clients generally dropped the 'psycho' bit when talking to her in person, lest she decide to embrace the label whilst dropping the 'for hire' part.

**o0O0o**

**The Wrong End of the Lightsaber (Prompt: 023 Curious)**

"Ohnaka, what about him?" Tula Coruscanti's eyes were wide with fear.

Aurra's lip curled in irritation. Usually she liked being able to put the fear of... well, _Aurra,_ into people. Sometimes however the ability to inspire instant terror could be something of a double-edged sword. Terrified people tended to either clam up or start babbling incoherently. It was a stumbling block that you expected to encounter during actual, bona-fide prisoner interrogation, but deeply annoying if you were just trying to ask, say, where the ladies' restroom was.

"He's been asking questions about me," she said. "I want to know what they are."

The woman gulped. "Well, first he wanted to know how well I knew you. I told him–"

"I don't care what _you_ said," she snapped.

Tula flinched. "He also asked me what species you were and why you had the antenna and what kind of star fighters you favoured and if you liked jewellery. He wanted to know where you were staying on the station too."

It all made sense. Well, apart from the bit about the jewellery. This Ohnaka was obviously planning to take a hit on her. Fool. She'd show him how a true assassin did these things.


	2. Looking for Trouble

**A/N:** A big thank you to everybody who reviewed the last set of drabbles.

**Queen:** I'm really happy that you're enjoying my Hondo/Aurra stories. I have such fun writing the two of them (though I suspect that were they to actually exist they would not appreciate the situations I put them in at all).

**Fandelivres:** Your English is fine (far better than my French). Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad that you like the characterisations. We seem to share the same favourite characters :)

**Anahita Unduli II**: Thanks, I'm really pleased you're enjoying the story thus far. I'm very fond of the pairing too.

**Centaurgirl21:** Poor Hondo. He's about to find himself in a somewhat _awkward _situation.

**o0O0o**

**Serendipity (070 Optimistic)**

Hondo was in an exceptionally good mood.

Okay, so he and his crew had been quarantined on Wayfarer Station under Directive Sixteen of the Control of Infectious Diseases Treaty. However, it would be a very sad day indeed when the Ohnaka Gang could not turn a minor inconvenience into a looting opportunity. So Hondo and his men had immediately set about finding out which of the wealthy merchants currently languishing on the station were currently in possession of valuables of which they might be relieve when the quarantine blockade was finally lifted.

The promise of loot however was not the only reason for Hondo's exceptionally good mood. Indeed, it was not even the main reason.

No, the primary cause of the obscenely wide grin that he was sporting was the woman who he'd seen walk into the _Coruscant Skyline_ the previous day.

His dear, beautiful _Wanted: Five-thousand Credits_ (AKA Aurra Sing)was here on Wayfarer Station.

Tulbert Coruscanti's sister had not been overly eager to furnish him with information about the object of his affection, but he had managed to persuade her to provide a few interesting details.

All he needed was the right opportunity to put them to use.

**o0O0o**

**A Third Party Perspective (073 Pessimistic)**

"... and so she's got it into her head that he wants to ambush her in her quarters and stick a knife into her neck, but I'm almost certain that if he wants to stick anything into her it's—"

"_Tula!_" Tulbert Coruscanti admonished, glowering reproachfully at his sister. "I'm sure that Mr. Fett doesn't want to hear your insinuations."

"I'm not insinuating anything," replied Tula. "I'm offering a straightforward opinion."

"And I'm sure that he doesn't want to hear that either." Tulbert looked apologetically at Jango, who was sitting at the bar holding a glass of some vaporous Rodian spirit that he had no intention of actually drinking.

Tulbert was right, Jango hadn't wanted to hear Tula's opinion on what Hondo Ohnaka may or may not want to do to the person of Aurra Sing. Hearing Hondo's own drunken elaborations on the subject had been bad enough. However, he was glad he'd she'd brought the situation to his attention.

"Did she tell you what she was planning to do?" he asked.

"Find out who he's working for in a prolonged and torturous interrogation and then eviscerate him."

Jango suppressed the urge to groan.

This wasn't going to end well.

**o0O0o**

**The Hunt (076 Predatory)**

The kill should always be preceded by the hunt.

Predator stalking prey until it was time for the final strike.

Primal. Glorious. Eternal.

Aurra Sing was not famed for her aesthetics sensibilities. However, this did not prevent her from finding beauty in what she did. The pursuit. The ambush. The strike. It was, to her, art of the highest order.

The poisoning job she'd just done for the station's proprietor though; that had been... unfulfilling. Break in, put a few drops in the water supply, retreat well before the mark returns and collect payment as soon as the death was confirmed. There was no crescendo. No satisfaction. Just a feeling of being ever so slightly cheapened by the act.

The assassin should not be picky. She knew this.

The fact remained however that while she was an assassin by training she was a hunter by inclination. A predator at the top of the food chain.

Even if that damned pirate seemed to have mistaken her for prey.

She paused as it struck her that she was nearing said damned pirate's quarters. Then a slow smile spread across her face.

Perhaps she _would_ be able to get some hunting done today.

**o0O0o**

**Opportunities (075 Pleased)**

"Two-hundred thousand credit's worth of rubies?"

Santhib Tarmini, a female pirate of indeterminate age nodded, clearly proud of herself for stumbling across this intelligence. "Yes Boss. And a cache of weaponry if we can get at it."

"And this is all on the Serpent's Shadow?"

"That's right. But Heg's planning to move it into some kind of high security hold in the station's central spire if the quarantine lasts much longer."

"It doesn't matter." Hondo made a dismissive gesture. "If we break through the docking bay security systems we can do the same with the central spire. There's no need for us to be subtle about it."

"Yes, but the station owner's hired a bunch of mercenaries to guard it."

"Mercenaries, which kind."

"Weequay. It's Garel's group."

Hondo's expression turned thoughtful. If it came down to a fight the Ohnaka Gang would win, but they'd take heavy casualties. Not yet quite sure what tactic to take, he dismissed Tarmini and leaned back in his chair.

For several minutes his gaze drifted aimlessly around the room. Then it alighted on his favourite item of decor. The poster of _Wanted: Five-thousand Credits._

He smiled. The opportunity he'd been waiting for had arrived.

**o0O0o**

**Five Thousand Credits (035 Enraged)**

Aurra was livid.

It was one thing to be marked for assassination.

It was quite another to have the fee for one's assassination set at a sum so paltry it wouldn't even cover Tula Coruscanti's annual clothing expenditure(1).

The poster was, she could see, a couple of years old. But that didn't stop her from seething at the insult. She'd killed two Jedi, ten senators, eight prominent Hutt crime lords and numerous others by the age of twenty and so deserved more respect.

If the pirate was willing to pursue her for a pittance then he wouldn't be much of a challenge.

Consumed with a mixture fury and disappointment she continued to stare into Ohnaka's quarters through the slits in the air vent.

She watched a female Weequay enter, impart some intelligence about a jewel stash and then depart, leaving Ohnaka to sink into some kind of reverie.

A reverie that ended with Ohnaka blowing a kiss in the direction of her poster.

"Well, my dear, it seems as though we may be meeting earlier than I thought."

For a few moments rage was replaced with contemplation.

Maybe Ohnaka didn't want to kill her.

Maybe he wanted to hire her.

-0-

(1) Though in all fairness Tula Coruscanti's enthusiasm for couture footwear and bespoke tailoring was considered bank breakingly excessive by most right thinking people (2).

(2) In this very particular instance Aurra was in complete agreement with 'most right thinking people'. She found it impossible to fully respect any woman who expended more money, thought and effort on selecting party dresses than she did on choosing blasters.


	3. Danger Looms

**A/N:** Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed the last chapter.

**Fandelivres**: Really happy you enjoyed the last chapter. I think that Hondo and Jack Sparrow are both great characters who would be sure to liven up any party (and probably steal the silverware while they were at it).

**Queen**: Heh, dread to think kind of terrible revenge the characters I write would visit upon me were they to come to life. And yes, Hondo should probably be very grateful that Aurra's starting to question her first impression of the situation.

**KitFisto'sGirl**: Tula is forever mortifying her brother's sensibilities with her 'honest and frank' opinions. In this case however her assessment of the situation is largely correct.

**hnhnh2**: I actually thought that Hondo and Aurra had pretty good chemistry in Lethal Trackdown. However, I do the definite impression that Aurra sees most beings as potential targets by default.

**Anahita Unduli II**: Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I'll probably try and work last episode's events into Ten Days and Counting, but as this drabble series is set a decade prior to TCW there probably won't be a mention here (apart from maybe in a footnote).

**o0O0o**

**High Noon at the Coruscant Skyline (005 Anxious)**

If asked which three things he loved most in the galaxy, Tulbert Coruscanti would, without hesitation, have named his sister, his bar and his god(1), in that order.

Right now however he was praying to the third that the second was not about to be obliterated as a result of the gambling habits of the first.

Inflamed by strong drink, cheap spice and mutual dislike, Tula's gaming partners had quickly progressed from accusations of cheating to hitting each other over the head with the fixtures and fittings.

"Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself," he muttered, as the siblings sheltered beneath the counter.

"It wasn't my fault," Tula snapped.

"You insisted on playing for high stakes."

"Four-hundred credits isn't high stakes."

Tulbert was about to disagree when a burst of blaster fire rang out.

For a while all was light and screaming. Then there was a moment of silence, followed by the sound of footsteps heading ominously towards the counter.

Gesturing for Tula to stay down, Tulbert got to his feet.

He was greeted by the sight of a Duros male in a wide-brimmed hat.

The interloper slammed a fistful of silver onto the counter.

"Hondo Ohnaka. Where is he?"

-0-

(1)The Evershining Overbeing of the Continuous Confoundment.

**o0O0o**

**Listening In (092 Surprised)**

As she continued on her progress through the maze of air vents and crawl spaces that lined the innards of Wayfarer Station, Aurra heard snatches of conversation filtering in from rooms, chambers and establishments on the other side.

_"... so if our growth forecasts are correct the Trade Federation's GDP will expand by four percent in..."_

She rolled her eyes. Economics, in her opinion, was for those who didn't know how to manage money(1).

_"... and then Dee Bell walked in wearing nothing but a loin cloth and tiara and declared that some tattooed Zabrak had stolen his clothes, his speeder and the company's accounts for the last eight tax years."_

Salacious, but she'd heard it before. The exploits of Representative Expen Dee Bell were legendary.

_"... but it's alright, everybody knows it can't actually happen if you do it standing up."_

Aurra sneered, strongly suspecting it could.

_"Hondo Ohnaka. Where is he?"_

She froze, instantly recognising the voice, before sinking down onto her belly and staring through the grate that overlooked the Coruscant Skyline.

Tula was crouching behind the bar.

Tulbert was pouring a drink.

Cad Bane was looking straight up at the grate, tipping his hat and winking.

-0-

(1) i.e. by converting one's credits into tangible goods such as blasters, grenades, star fighters and precious jewels as soon as possible, and then burying the jewels in a big pit on some out of the way asteroid. It was enough to make a banker weep(1a).

(1a) Indeed, years later she would reduce a captured representative of the Intergalactic Banking Clan to horrified hysterics by merely detailing exactly what she was going to do with the credits she earned from claiming the bounty on his sorry head.

**o0O0o**

**Think of the Demon... (095 Thoughtful)**

As Jango watched the ebb and flow of the crowd passing through the station's entertainment quarter, the part of his mind that was not focussed on scanning the throng for his informant was pondering how best to convince Aurra that Hondo wasn't trying to kill her.

Bounty hunters, the best ones, didn't have friends. They had allies, associates and occasionally partners. However, Hondo had been an associate of Jango's for so long that he was a friend in all but name.

Straight out telling her that Hondo's intentions were amorous as oppose to lethal would probably be a mistake. You never could predict how Aurra would react to a man's advances. Sometimes she'd shoot them, sometimes she'd—.

These thoughts cut off abruptly as he caught a flash of white and orange in the ventilation shaft above.

He inwardly snorted.

_Think of the demon and she will appear._

"Aurra," he said by way of greeting, as she dislodged the grate and dropped gracefully to the floor.

"Jango." Her lips quirked upwards. "Did you know that Bane's here?"

He gave a noncommittal grunt. He hadn't, but there was no need to tell her.

"He's looking for a pirate called Hondo Ohnaka."

**o0O0o**

**A Whole World of Trouble (017 Confused)**

"Cad Bane? Looking for me?" Hondo was visibly perplexed by this. He did not however seem to be as concerned as one might expect an individual in such a predicament to be.

Jango nodded.

"Why?"

"Didn't the Mercantile House of Vessa put a price on your head two months ago?"

"Eighty-thousand credits." Hondo made a dismissive gesture. Too dismissive in Jango's opinion. Then he went on. "Now, you say _Wanted Five-Thousand Credits_ thinks that I want to kill her?"

"No, she used to. Now she thinks you want her to shoot Bane."

Hondo's confusion returned. "How...?"

"She overheard him interrogating Coruscanti."

The pirate lapsed into thought.

"If you want me to take out Bane I'll do it for half the usual fee," Jango offered. It was generous. Abnormally generous. However, it seemed to Jango that it would probably be the best way to avoid a whole world of trouble.

"Would she try it?" Hondo asked.

"Probably."

"Then I'll ask her."

Jango considered trying to point out what a bad idea that was, before deciding that attempting to argue with a luststruck Weequay would be an exercise in futility. "Look, whatever you do, don't call her _Five-Thousand Credits_ to her face."

**o0O0o**

**Long Legs and Blasters (007 Aroused)**

There were some things, Hondo knew, that really shouldn't turn a man on.

Having a blaster pointed at his face was one of them.

Of course, it wasn't so much the presence of the blaster per se as the fact that the individual doing the pointing was a) Aurra Sing and b) currently straddling his midsection. However, it had to be admitted that the presence of the blaster did lend a certain _frisson_ to the experience.

"You've been asking questions about me. Why?" She punctuated this question by slapping his face with the non blaster carrying hand.

As an older, wiser pirate Hondo would recognise this as the moment when he should have extracted himself from the situation(1) by explaining that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding and offering immediate financial recompense for any inconvenience suffered. Right now however, he was too preoccupied with the long legs squeezing his waist to give much thought to future consequence.

"Why? That would require a very... _complicated_ explanation."

"You got five seconds to simplify it. Five... Four..."

He gulped.

"Cad Bane," he said. "He wants me dead. I want to stay alive."

A smirk pulled at her lips. "Go on, I'm listening."

-0-

(1) Alas, even _as_ an older and wiser pirate he found it impossible to fully extract himself from the connection that ensued. It was, after all, one thing to refrain from pursuing a dangerous woman, but quite another to throw her out of your bed when – following an on/off relationship that had persisted for just over a decade – you staggered blind drunk into your quarters and unexpectedly found her there.


	4. The Start of the Debacle

**A/N: **Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed the last chapter.

Queen: It's not so much a bounty hunter conference per se as some Pratchettesque Law of Narrative Comedy trapping as many ruthless contract killers as possible in the same farcical situation.

Anahita Unduli II: Am happy you liked the last chapter. Bane's going to have something of a major supporting role in this story.

Fandelivres: Thank you. I'm really pleased you're enjoying the story. I couldn't resist having Bane show up (and, as you say, Hondo mentioned him in relation to Hondo and Aurra's first meeting, in Ten Days and Counting). Poor Bane.

**o0O0o**

**Negotiations Interrupted (032 Embarrassed)**

_"Oh sweet Overbeing!"_

Aurra, still straddling the pirate, experienced a wave of mortification as she saw Tula Coruscanti standing in the doorway.

From the look on the woman's face it was clear that she'd seen their current position and drawn certain (erroneous) conclusions.

"What do you want?" Aurra demanded.

"Death sticks."

"Death sticks?" Ohnaka repeated.

"Yes, do you have any? Dee Bell's hosting a party and he wants me to get some. My usual supply's been cut off by the damned quarantine, but I thought you might have a stash."

"So you plan to pay me a pittance for my hard won cargo and then sell it on at an exorbitant mark-up."

"Well, yes. It's hardly as if Dee Bell's going to approach you himself(1). Besides, you owe me."

"I do?" said Ohnaka, seemingly unfazed by the situation.

"For offloading those holos."(2)

Ohnaka gave a sigh. "Fine, fine. I'll trade for three-thousand credits a crate."

_"Three-thousand credits? That's—"_

In no mood to listen to the pair haggling, Aurra pointed her blaster at Tula. "Accept the deal or get out."

Tula squeaked. Accepted the deal. And then got out.

Aurra turned her attention back to Ohnaka. "Now, you were saying..."

-0-

(1)Representative Dee Bell, like many beings of his ilk, felt that less-than-legal dealings couldn't so bad as long as the other party was a pretty young human woman who possessed enough underworld glamour to titillate (but not enough to terrify) refined company. The fact that said pretty young human woman was acquiring _her _wares from a known Weequay brigand (who liked to hold 'refined company' hostage as often as he possibly could) was of no concern.

(2)As a perennial dealer in good of dubious origin, Tula Coruscanti often found herself trying to locate buyers for the outré and bizarre. Nothing however had prepared her for the challenge (not to mention the embarrassment) of trying to find somebody willing to exchange money for six-hundred bootleg copies of _The Passions of Jabba_: an unpleasant little haul that had come into Hondo's possession by way of a mistimed raid on a Mon Cal freighter.

**o0O0o**

**Lifestyles of the Rich and Half-witted (015 Chipper)**

Cad Bane looked at the hoard of pretty young beings around him and idly wondered how it could be possible that the imbeciles had not only managed to survive to adulthood, but obtain (or at least retain) positions of power and influence. Proof, if ever it was needed, that the Republic really needed to pay some suitably qualified professionals to perform a cull on the lower echelons of the body politic.

Still, Bane wasn't here to hobnob with the hideously cheery, giggling, glassy-eyed things. This was strictly business.

Spying Representative Dee Bell near the back of the room he started to walk in his direction.

The Representative was too engrossed in his conversation with a nearby potted palm to notice Bane's approach.

He cleared his throat.

Dee Bell turned to Bane, grinning.

"Mr. Bane!" he exclaimed, in a manner so obnoxiously chipper that it made Bane wish that Dee Bell was his mark rather than his client's son.

"Tell your father I've located the target," he said.

"What, on the station?"

Bane nodded.

Dee Bell conveyed this news to the potted palm.

Bane watched and wondered how much Dee Bell Senior would pay to be rid of the spice-crazed idiot.

**o0O0o**

**The Deal (031 Ecstatic)**

Hondo was quite aware that he was grinning like an idiot. He was also quite aware that Aurra Sing had noticed his idiotic grin and would likely as not take it a sign that he was a complete and utter idiot.

He didn't care. She had a) just agreed to deal with Bane; and was b) still sitting on Hondo. There would be plenty of time to demonstrate what a clever, cunning and completely non-idiotic individual he was now that they had a professional relationship. Granted, said professional relationship would cost more money than he'd ever paid for anything other than state of the art military hardware, but it was worth it.

"So...," she said, in a voice that was out and out sultry. "How do you want me to do it?"

He gulped. "Do what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Deal with Bane."

"Find out who hired him, then shoot him," said Hondo, just about managing to retain a tiny vestige of rational thought. Then, under the guise of moving her off him, he set his hands down on her hips and—

All in all, the ensuing slap to the face was not as hard as it might have been.

**o0O0o**

**Deluge You Sorrows (044 Gloomy)**

Ingot Cadinn surveyed the broken tables, smashed glasses and overturned chairs that were scattered around the Coruscant Skyline and decided that the place suited his mood.

The fact that he was currently the only patron present didn't bother him. He was, after all, there with the sole intention of consuming as much liquor as possible within the shortest possible amount of time.

"Another ale?" enquired Tulbert Coruscanti.

Cadinn looked into his almost-empty tankard. "You 'ave anything stronger?"

"Bad day, I take it?"

The pirate made a noise of discontent. "It's happening again. I can tell."

"What's happening?"

"It's the boss. He's getting involved with another one."

Coruscanti looked momentarily nonplussed. Then realisation dawned. "Oh, you mean him and..."

Cadinn nodded glumly. "Your sister saw them at it. This one's going to be worse than the Zeltron and the Twi'Lek combined."

"He'll get bored of her eventually. He always does."

"And that's when the bloodbath will happen. So I ask you, do you 'ave any liquor hard enough to sooth an old Weequay's fears?"

"Ever heard of Antrillian Mind Mist?"

"Can't say I 'ave."

"The Antrillians call two thimbles full a good night out."

Cadinn considered this. "Give me three pints."

**o0O0o**

**Insomnia (083 Restless)**

Unable to settle, Aurra shifted on her pallet.

She wanted to sleep. She was tired enough to sleep. Yet somehow she couldn't.

Usually she could dose and wake at will: another legacy of her 'early education' and Anzati training. Right now though she was tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling.

It was Ohanka's fault.

He was attracted to her her. That wasn't a problem. Lots of men desired her(1) and, for the most part, it pleased her to be desired. The trouble was that she hadn't been entirely unaffected by him either. That pinch on the hips had induced a few sensations that she hadn't experienced for a long time; and the whole experience had left her restless, agitated and acutely aware of just how long it had been since she'd engineered her last lover's departure from the land of the living(2).

It irked her that the pirate had managed to do that. She'd never had much respect for Weequay as a species; and the fact that one had managed to get her this stirred-up was frankly embarrassing.

She snarled, cursed outloud and shifted again.

Maybe after this job was over somebody would pay her to kill him.

-0-

(1)Only seventy-five percent of whom were actively suicidal.

(2)Many would have been surprised to learn that she did not in fact habitually kill everybody she slept with, a la several members of the arachnid family. In this case though the price on the Nautolan's head had been oh so very good and listening in on those _interesting_ conversations he'd been having with that Jedi had made her oh so very angry.


	5. The Plot Thickens

**A/N**: Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed the last chapter.

KitFisto'sGirl: Poor Aurra indeed. Though I really don't think that _that_ particular lullaby would help to sooth her to sleep at present :)

Queen: Thank you :) The truth about Bane's actual target is somewhat more convoluted than anyone could imagine (including Bane himself)

Anahita Unduli II: Thanks :) At present Aurra really doesn't like the way she's reacting to Hondo, but a job is a job... right?

Fandelivres: I'm really happy you're enjoying the story so much. I think that Hondo is one of those men who has innate charisma (even when he's being clumsy) and Aurra is far from immune.

Nonymous: Am glad you're enjoying the story :) Hondo is one of my favourite TCW characters, he's just so entertaining to watch. On watching the season 2 finale I got the sense that he's still rather fond of Aurra, but well aware that spending too much time around her is likely to be hazardous to one's health.

**o0O0o**

**On strange women and the dangers thereof (065 Morose)**

"...and so...so she left me there, standing pantsless in the middle of the market square. Overbeing's honest truth." Tulbert reached for his glass, only to find that he could now see two.

"Thieving schutta!" Ingot Cadinn declared, before picking up the bottle of mind mist and taking several long glugs. "So what 'appened then?"

"Police came and arrested me. Tried to tell 'em some schutta had stolen my pants at blasterpoint, but they didn't believe me." Tulbert shook his head. "Had to leave the planet after that."

Cadinn was about to say something sympathetic and profound(1), when he realise that a third presence had entered the bar.

"Cap'ain?"

"What's this?" Hondo grinned, his cheerfulness clashing with the otherwise maudlin atmosphere. "Drowning your sorrows?"

"Tulbert 'ere was telling me how he was brung low by a woman."

"Ah, women. I encountered such a beautiful one today."

"That Sing girl?"

"She fought me to the ground and put a gun to my head." He spoke as if this was a wonderful, touching occurrence.

Cadinn groaned and reached once again for the bottle. If he drank enough he might not have to live to experience the fallout from the Boss's newest romantic misadventure.

-0-

(1)Ingot Cadinn's perceptions of his own profundity tended to be directly proportional to his blood alcohol content.

**o0O0o**

**Second Best (037 Envious)**

It was, when it came down to it, the credits alone that mattered.

Honour was folly. Unpaid vengeance was bad business. And reputation mattered only so far as it got you the really high end jobs.

Cad Bane believed all of these things: knew that anything else was just unprofitable vanity. Yet he couldn't help but experience a pang of acute resentment every time he thought about the fact that Jango Fett was widely considered to be the known galaxy's best bounty hunter.

It made no material difference to Bane, whose complete lack of professional ethics and willingness to do anything for the right price ensured that he was currently the known galaxy's best paid bounty hunter. However, it still irritated him. Pettily, unprofitably irritated him.

It was for this reason that he was paying far more attention than he otherwise might to the younger bounty hunter's interaction with the middle-aged Rodian on the other side of the Crystal Shard Casino.

Reading the Rodian's lips, Bane recognised the words: 'glitterstim', 'rubies', 'database', 'critical' and 'huge reward'. Then the creature's mouth formed a name with which Bane was now all too familiar.

He glowered. That Human sonofasow was hunting Bane's bounty.

**o0O0o**

**Speculating to accumulate (053 Indifferent)**

Tula Coruscanti looked at the scenes of bacchanalian excess going on around her and wondered if there was any advantage to be gained by sticking around. It was nothing that she hadn't seen before and seen in more interesting company. Rampant debauchery was all very fascinating on the first few occasions you witnessed it, but after that it got more and more uninteresting each time.

She _had_ been interested by Dee Bell's conversation with that Duros. Unfortunately, she hadn't able to get close enough to hear what they were talking about and the bounty hunter was now long gone.

Deciding after a moment's consideration that there was no more profit to be made(1) she started towards the door, only to find an arm making a grab for her waist.

"Representative Dee Bell!"

"You're not leaving are you?" He looked hurt at the prospect.

"Oh, you know, hardware to sell, legitimate merchants to see."

"But I wanted to show you my Wampa pelt collection."

She looked at the man and experienced an overwhelming wave of indifference. Then she remembered that his father, the mining magnate, was number 367 on the Mid-Rim Rich List and smiled.

"Wampa pelts? Why I'd love to."

-0-

(1)The assorted representatives and aids being either too low on credits or too high on glitterstim to make for useful black-market trading partners.

**o0O0o**

**An Impolite Intrusion (078 Refreshed)**

Aurra awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed.

She did experience a little discomfort on recalling the nature of the dreams she'd been having (all of which seemed to have featured a certain pirate captain). However, such memories were easily repressed; and so she rose from her pallet bright, alert and ready to go about the business of assassinating Cad Bane. She had not as yet selected exactly how she was going to go about said assassination, but she had several ideas: some very elegant and largely contingent on ingenuity, others somewhat cruder and entirely contingent on her besting him in a full-on shoot out.

_Decisions, decisions._

Her lips twitched upwards as she considered the creative possibilities that the job might entail: a contemplative state that was rudely shattered a few moments later by the sound of a violent altercation going on outside.

There was yelling. Then pleading... And then Aurra was forced to dodge as a misaimed bolt shot through the wall of her quarters.

"Amateurs," she snarled, before drawing her blasters, striding out of the door and demonstrating her displeasure.

Ten seconds later six beings lay dead at her feet.

She smiled once again. There was nothing like a nice morning bloodbath.

**o0O0o**

**The Hangover ****(039 Exhausted)**

Hondo awoke feeling wearier than he had before he'd gone to bed.

His head ached. His stomach churned. And his mouth tasted as though something had died and decomposed in there.

For a moment he feared that he'd been stricken with the dreaded Gamorrean Flu. Then the sight of the empty bottles on the floor of his quarters reminded him that he'd spent most of the previous night engaged in what could only be described as an 'almighty bender'.

It had started when he'd found Ingot Cadinn and Tulbert Coruscanti moping over a bottle of Antrillian Mind Mist and had somehow ended with him challenging fifteen of his own men to a drinking contest(1). As a pirate captain he had a certain reputation to maintain and maintain it he did, with gusto and enthusiasm.

As hauled himself to his feet, he realised that there was someone behind the ventilation grate on the wall.

A very pale someone with long fingers.

Before he had chance to react, the grate was removed and Aurra slithered out into the room.

"My dear! I wasn't expecting you so... _early_."

She responded by wrinkling her nose. "You smell like a corpse marinaded in ale(2)."

-0-

(1) Which he had won partly through his (admittedly very impressive) tolerance for strong liquor and partly through the sneaky self-administration of anti-intoxicants.

(2) Aurra had been in the presence of enough these to recognise the scent. Some Nar Shaddaa crime lords had some really _odd _ways of taking revenge on captured enemies.


	6. Misunderstandings of Mass Destruction

**A/N:** Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed the last chapter.

Queen: Heh, as far as Aurra's concerned there's nothing to start the day like a bit of gratuitous violence. This mindset does, of course, put something of a limit on her social life.

KitFisto's Girl: Thanks :) I'm glad you liked the chapter.

Anahita Unduli II: Hondo's crew know all too well where their boss's habit of courting dangerous women can lead. Alas, Aurra will prove to be the most lethal of the lot.

Fandelivres: I'm really happy you enjoyed the last chapter :) Aurra is feeling inexplicably (and rather ambivalently) drawn to Hondo. This causes her a great deal of irritation, which she doesn't hesitate to take out on the source of her feelings.

**o0O0o**

**Aurra Sing versus Flagrant Stupidity (019 Cranky)**

Aurra's previously good mood evaporated as soon as she saw the pirate.

He was bleary-eyed, dishevelled and reeking of booze. A clear indication that he'd spent the night carousing instead of, say, doing what any marked man with half a brain would do and ensuring that professional killers couldn't access his rented quarters via the station's ventilation system.

Aurra liked men with a taste for danger(1), but there was 'living dangerously' and there was 'flagrant stupidity'.

It was what exactly what she'd expect from a Weequay.

"You're looking very deadly this morning," Hondo complimented.

"And you look like you've crawled out of a gutter."

He laughed. "What could I do? Kovad claimed that he could drink me under the table."

She grabbed him by the collar and glared.

"Look, pirate, you hired me to kill Bane and I intend to get paid for it."

"Of course, of course." To her disgruntlement he seemed to enjoy being manhandled.

"So you're damned well going to stay alive long enough to hand over the money."

He looked perplexed.

"Stop passing out drunk in front of unsecured vents," she elaborated.

He grinned "My dear, I didn't know you cared."

She glowered. "Don't flatter yourself."

-0-

(1)Indeed, they were the only kind (1a) that didn't run away in terror the moment she started to 'show an interest'.

(1a)Aside, of course, from the clinically insane, the actively suicidal and – alas – the flagrantly stupid.

**o0O0o**

**The Tribulations of a Kept Woman (080 Relaxed)**

Smiling, Tula propped up her feet on a velvet stool and beckoned for her personal beautician droid(1) to come and give her a pedicure.

She'd been in a bit of a rut lately, but things were certainly looking up now. Representative Dee Bell had not improved much upon further acquaintance, but he was obviously rather taken with her and she was confident that expensive gifts would soon be forthcoming(2). He'd also told her the most interesting things about the little job his father had hired Cad Bane carry out. Dee Bell Senior had clearly not told his son all the details (and who could blame him), but Tula knew enough about the station to make a few educated guesses.

Still, none of it really had anything to do with her. All she needed to do was lean back, relax and—

The door buzzer sounded.

"What is it," she snapped, hitting the intercom.

"S'me Tula," came her brother's voice, weary and slightly slurred. "I need to borrow some gold."

_"Gold?"_

"Fifteen-hundred credit's worth should do it."

"What the kriff do you need fifteen-hundred Credit's worth of gold for?"

Tulbert groaned and mumbled something about Hondo Ohnaka and a high-stakes drinking game.

-0-

(1)A gift from an ex-boyfriend who was currently doing thirty years in the Coruscant Penitentiary for arson, armed robbery and impersonating a member of the Galactic Senate(1a).

(1a)The fact that the athletic, twenty-seven year old Zabrak had succeeded in posing as Orn Free Taa for three days had since resulted in the instatement of emergency eye exams and mandatory deathstick testing for all security staff and senatorial aids.

(2) Tula was aware that what she was doing was, morally speaking, no different to what the girls over at Madam Fireflower's House of Delights did. However, there were _morals_ and then there were _standards_. And standards dictated that if one was going to be immoral one should at least avoid being _cheap_.

**o0O0o**

**The Time and the Place (030 Drained)**

"It's simple," said Aurra. "I'll hit him with a stun shot while he's heading from his quarters towards the mechanics' district on Floor 42, then I'll bring him to the empty storage facility in Section 8. You can interrogate him there without drawing any attention."

Hondo looked blearily at the copy of the station schematics she had provided him with and wished that they could conduct this meeting later in the day. Preferably after he'd had a nice long sleep. It was not so much that Hondo was wholly lacking in work ethic. Freighters did not, after all, go around looting themselves. It was more that he felt that there was a time and a place for strategic planning; and that the time wasn't during the direct aftermath of an all-night liquor and spice binge.

"Is there a problem, Ohnaka?" Aurra regarded him with a look of sneering contempt.

"No problem," he mumbled. Then, realising that making a contribution might be helpful to his long term goals, he added: "But how do you know he'll take that route today?"

The sneer softened into a smirk. "Because last night he left his techno service droid with a cyberneticist for minor repairs."

**o0O0o**

**The Nature of the Job (072 Pensive)**

Alone in his quarters, Jango Fett looked at the datafile his new employer's proxy had forwarded to him.

The target was a gem smuggler named Darradin Heg. A big name in this backwater sector, perhaps, but strictly small fry as far as the rest of the Outer Rim was concerned. Jango had initially been surprised that Urgo the Hutt was willing to pay as much as he was to ensure the capture and live delivery of Heg. But it was quickly becoming clear that this was more than just a simple matter of a double-crossed crime lord out for revenge. Unlike his distant cousin Jabba, Urgo wasn't the type to hire hunter of Fett's calibre to bring in a live mark just so he could do something interesting to them.

Jango's guess was that Heg had something – probably information – that Urgo wanted for himself.

On the surface, none of this had any direct relevance to Jango. His job was merely to take custody of Heg and deliver him to Nal Hutta alive and intact. But if his quarry had or knew something of value, it wouldn't be unreasonable to entertain the possibility that somebody else might be after it too.

**o0O0o**

**Revelation (100 Worried)**

Under normal circumstances Hondo would have been rather enthusiastic about receiving fifteen-hundred credits worth of gold. As it was however, he was too busy wondering how Aurra was doing to care much about the money Coruscanti owed him for the drinking contest. If all went well he'd be rendezvousing with her and her prisoner in Section 8 in thirty minutes. If not... well, he'd have to see if Jango was still willing to take the job.

"Cad Bane's looking for you, you know," piped up Tula, as she and Tulbert turned to leave.

"He already knows," muttered her brother, who had – with drunken professions of eternal friendship – repeated the details of Bane's visit to the Coruscant Skyline the previous evening.

Tula seemed oddly disappointed by this. "I suppose he's already made an offer for the datachips then?"

"Datachips?" Nonplussed, Hondo stared at her.

"You know, the ones you looted from Daradin Heg's ship a few months ago."

"You're saying that Bane isn't here to...?" He mimed putting a blaster to his own head.

"Oh no, he's just here for Daradin Heg and the datachips: Dee Bell's father hired him."

Swearing, Hondo jumped to his feet.

He had to find Aurra.

**o0O0o**

**The Fine Line Between Predator and Prey (013 Calm)**

Bane knew that she was following him.

She was good. Very good.

She was also stunningly overconfident.

If it had been Bane stalking Bane he would have put a blaster bolt in his head two minutes ago. No flourish. No fuss. Sing however just couldn't resist the urge to draw it out. He didn't know if it was youth or a fundamental flaw in her training; but a flaw it was. One that was about to put a permanent end to her bounty hunting career(1).

Bane smiled to himself. A lesser hunter might have panicked, drawn a blaster and started pre-emptively firing, but he wasn't stupid enough to do that. He'd seen how preternaturally quick Sing was on the draw and only gave himself a 40/60 chance of besting her in a one-on-one firefight. Instead he calmly and discreetly tapped the device on his wrist.

A dart shot to the floor.

Not bothering to quicken his pace he began to silently count. _One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven..._

Then he heard the voice.

"AURRA. STOP."

There was a swishing noise. Followed by an explosion. Followed by a scream. Followed, a second, later by two blaster bolts searing his right arm.

-0-

(1)And indeed any other activities for which the use of a corporeal body was a prerequisite.


End file.
